Facebook buys Oculus For $2 billion

[Andytizer 269]

It's been nearly a day and it still hasn't quite sunk in for me. It's enormously disappointing that a crowdfunded independent company that was going to become the next step in PC gaming gets bought out by Facebook. Here from Zuckerberg himself:

Immersive gaming will be the first, and Oculus already has big plans here that won't be changing and we hope to accelerate. The Rift is highly anticipated by the gaming community, and there's a lot of interest from developers in building for this platform. We're going to focus on helping Oculus build out their product and develop partnerships to support more games. Oculus will continue operating independently within Facebook to achieve this.

 

But this is just the start. After games, we're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face -- just by putting on goggles in your home.

What do people think? Is it the end for VR? Will new VR headsets be released to compete with the Oculus (providing that they don't infringe on their patents)? Or will VR and gaming become reinvigorated with this $2 billion cash infusion?

 

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[Newmansan 30]

I'm cautiously optimistic I guess. If Mark can keep to his word and not micromanage it, then perhaps it can still flourish. I was sad to hear that Notch nixed the minecraft version of the rift.  

[Marzipas 0]

I was a bit pissed at first, but I was reading Oculus's own blog post about it, and at the end they went on about how this was a big step in making VR an affordable thing for everyone. Facebook said they don't intend to interfere with how it works on a gaming standpoint, and if they stick to their word and this buyout makes VR an affordable thing in the foreseeable future, I think this will be brilliant. I have faith in Carmack.

 

The reaction has definitely been a bit OTT, especially notch being a massive child and just cancelling Mincecraft for the Rift. This probably wont ruin it, if anything, this is just going to make it less of a niche product, and more appealing to everyone.

[M0nster 1]

Personally I'm quite relieved someone like Facebook bought Oculus. If, say Google had bought them, I could see them shutting it down and just hiring the developers behind it. NVidia and Sony would have probably made it an exclusive, and companies like Valve have better places where they could be spending. At the end of the day, if Facebook does what they have done with Instagram and what they're doing with WhatsApp, I don't think Oculus and VR will be impacted very much (except for a big increase in cash flow).

 

"especially notch being a massive child and just cancelling Mincecraft for the Rift."

 

I completely agree with this, I think he's being really immature about it.